Bertrand Petipa, Head of Audi Sales, reports on the year 2017, unveils his ambitions for 2018 and gives his vision on major issues that shake the world of fleets, such as the rise of gasoline, hardening of the TVS or the implementation of the WLTP certification cycle.
JA. What were Audi’s results on the fleet channel last year?
BP. If the brand in France recorded a record of sales across all channels with more than 65,000 vehicles sold, 2017 was a little more difficult on the channel of the fleets. In this market down 6% for premium brands, Audi was down 8% to just over 19,512 units, of which just over 10,700 to society and 8,800 to LLD. Sales to professionals accounted for just under 30% of Audi France’s total sales.
JA. How to explain this decline?
BP. Lower sales in historical segments B (-20%) and C, which impacted our A4 and A6 sales. We also experienced supply difficulties for our Q2 and Q5 SUVs due to strong international demand. Our order intake has thus increased by 5% in 2017. Only the volume of registrations on major accounts has decreased, due to the contract renewal cycle.
JA. How does Audi compare with its competitors?
BP. In premium brands, we remained second in the fleet market, behind BMW at 19,771 units and ahead of Mercedes at 18,999 VL, including the Vans subsidiary.
JA. How do you anticipate 2018?
BP. We are building a stable fleet market and a similar trend for Audi, whose year will still be marked by a record number of launches. In the first half, we will market the RS4, the A7, but also the Q8. Added to this are the new versions of the A6, sedan and Avant, the A1 and Q3, three decisive models for the fleet market.
JA. What about the electrified range?
BP. The range will be enriched this year with two hybrid diesel e-tron models, the A8 long version and the A5. Finally, we will present at the end of the year our first all-electric SUV, dubbed “e-tron”. The latter prefigures the all-electric strategy of Audi with a planned launch every year until 2020. In 2019, we will offer a Sportback e-tron, then a compact e-tron the following year.
JA. What are your ambitions in this electrical market?
BP. Our ambitions are aligned with those of the Volkswagen Group, which will market about twenty hybrid or electric models by 2025. Even if we do not communicate figures or sales forecasts, we must know that the commercializations have almost doubled for the Q7 e-tron and increased 40% on the A3 e-tron in 2017.
JA. What are your plans for the network to encourage fleet sales?
BP. We work locally with the network, especially on the service part, which we want to live up to the premium brand. Among them, Audi Twin Service, which offers a maintenance in ninety minutes, to limit the immobilization of the vehicle, or Audi Rent for the specific needs of companies.
At the same time, our 144 points of sale always benefit from support for the professionalization of employees. Visits of our teams are organized in the concessions in order to accompany them on the technical points, to inform them on the legislative evolutions, to help them to set up targeted marketing actions, but also to train the new entrants.
JA. Do you observe a shift from your fleet sales to gasoline?
BP. No, the share of gasoline remains stable for the moment even if our customers question us a lot. But if this share actually increases, it will not change anything for us. We have been offering a range of petrol engines for years, and are therefore ready for this potentential rise. Still, economically, the Diesel still prevails via taxation still advantageous on fuel and the level of CO2 higher with gasoline.
JA. How does Audi react to the sharp rise in TVS?
BP. This increase is a component of the environment in which we operate and over which we have no hand anyway. We are obviously not going to create express engines for France, so we will fight with our weapons. A good part of our range remains under 120 g, and we will observe how the models emitting between 130 and 150 g will be impacted.
JA. How do you position yourself in relation to WLTP?
BP. Unfortunately, once again, we are positioning ourselves in a wait-and-see manner on this subject because we do not currently know the approvals of our models in WLTP. Admittedly, there are elements that emanate from our factories, but which have not been down to the French subsidiary for the moment. It is certain that this certification cycle will have a financial impact on our customers, but we do not know what order this impact will be.